Lowell Portfolio and Bankruptcy Proceedings

[alf2009]

Please can someone advise

 

I received a Bankruptcy Enquiry letter from Land Registry referring to court proceedings, giving my previous address. I moved about 6 months ago. I phoned the court and they said the petition is by someone called Lowell Portfolio with a hearing date in 2 weeks time. I haven't received anything from the court.

 

What on earth do I do?

[babybear39]

Could you supply more details please such as what the alleged debt is ie. credit card? loan? Original creditor and when did you default.

 

POsting the particulars of claim without identifying info would be most helpful too

[Mr Worried]

Hi Alf

 

Firstly calm down,,Are you aware of any comms by dca's from previous address? if so give us a breakdown of all particulars as much info as you can ( I D Hidden ) then we can assist further.

 

Initially I would call the courts and get ref numbers etc from claiments POC, better still hard copies.

 

Mr, easy does it.

[Mr Worried]

Could you supply more details please such as what the alleged debt is ie. credit card? loan? Original creditor and when did you default.

 

POsting the particulars of claim without identifying info would be most helpful too

 

 

Hi bb

 

You beat me by a minute! if only I had not answered the door to sign for a reconstituted CCA

[babybear39]

lol...

[Mr Worried]

lol...

 

Ha Ha, I think posts 2 and 3 some it up well.

 

Mr

[alf2009]

Thank you for replying so quickly.

 

The court gave me a case reference number and a phone number of the claimant, but no other details. I've a had a look through old letters. Its a BOS credit card for about £3000. I received some letters last year threatening court action or visits but was advised to ignore them. I last made a payment in 2006.

[Mr Worried]

Hi Alf

 

This is what I would do.

 

Go to the court and request a copie of the claim (the POC..Particulars of claim) it is only then you can deal with this problem efficiently. in the meantime give us the details from BOS and what letters they sent you, ok you ignored as per the forum advise, did you cca them? so many questions yes I know, but this problem will ease itself once we have the details.

 

Get back ON THE PHONE TO COURTS AND TELL THE YOU WANT A COPY OF CLAIM, we also need to establish where ' your pack ' was sent. old addy? lots to do Alf so get on with it.

 

Mr

[babybear39]

Welcome to the lowlife, oops, lowell fan club

[alf2009]

Thanks so much, I feel a bit calmer now I have a plan.

 

What details do you need from BOS - and what is 'CCA them'?

[babybear39]

CCA = Consumer Credit Agreement and the request helps determine their right to chase for the alleged account. You can find the letter in the templates library.

 

When you get the copy of the CCJ post the POCs so we can see what they're alleging and what address they sent the original to.

 

It most likely went through Northampton bulk centre so ring them first.

Edited December 10, 2010 by babybear39
added a bit

[alf2009]

Thanks again. I did not CCA them and there never has been a county court claim.

[babybear39]

Sorry, my bad...

 

Is lowlife the sole claimant and if not, who is the original creditor? Did they know about your change of address? This practice is becoming widespread throughout the financial sector to secure judgements by default. What did the letter from the land registry say? How much is the oustanding amount?

[42man]

Alf...sorry to read this, as has been said above go to the court and state that you are the litigant in person and get ALL the paperwork in the file......you need to send in your defence so it is in court (and with the opposing solicitor) at least 5 days before the hearing. Have you not received a statutory demand ?

[42man]

There is another person on these forums who has already been made bankrupt without knowing......was there any dispute previous to this ?

[Mr Worried]

Wow 42 really, who?

 

 

 

 

There is another person on these forums who has already been made bankrupt without knowing......was there any dispute previous to this ?

[42man]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?279969-Help-Please-Im-Bankrupt-and-didnt-Know!!&highlight=reallyconfused

[42man]

You may be charged a small copying fee for the documents from the courts.

[alf2009]

£5 fee. But they suggested I contact their solicitor directly for it. Is it too late to male an offer of installments or are they in control of the situation? The house equity is worth way more than the debt so bankruptcy is a a nightmare scenario.

[nicklea]

I was in a similar situation to yourself about 10 years ago.

 

Although not relevant to the present it was for a mortgage indemnity guarantee after my house was repossesed with negative equity back in the late 80s.

 

The creditor has not necessarily already got a CCJ against you - they don't need to do that before presenting a bankruptcy petition.

 

What has happened is that they have issued a bankruptcy petition against you and the letter from the land registry is telling you that a caution has been placed against your property to prevent you selling it before the court can hear the petition.

 

As the others have said you need to get to the court as soon as possible and get all the documents and find out when the date is for the hearing.

 

The whole bankruptcy thing is governed by the Insolvency Rules 1986. You can find a copy here:-

 

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/insolvencyprofessionandlegislation/legislation/uk/insolvencyrules.pdf

 

and the relevant bit for individuals starts from the bottom of page 385

 

As part of the bankruptcy petition they have to provide evidence of service of the Statutory Demand and they really should have done it by personal service or at the least recorded delivery - rule 6.11. I'm guessing that neither of these took place. This will be a strong argument in your favour.

 

Once you get all the paperwork from the court then we can deal with this properly.

 

You do need to take this seriously, if you do not oppose this then they can make you bankrupt.

[nicklea]

£5 fee. But they suggested I contact their solicitor directly for it. Is it too late to male an offer of installments or are they in control of the situation? The house equity is worth way more than the debt so bankruptcy is a a nightmare scenario.

 

I would suggest that you do not do anything like that yet. You do have some very strong arguments against bankruptcy.

 

I would suggest that as long as you do opoose the bankruptcy petition then the worst case scenario would be that they would give up on the bankruptcy petition and then issue a court claim against you which you can either pay then or defend depending on the circumstances.

 

THe best case scenario would be that you find out that the agreement is unenforceable and they go away all together.

[42man]

Alf....a visit to the court to get the papers is far better.....once you have done that and got copies of ALL the paperwork (which will include a copy of the stat demand, an affadavit showing that personal service had been attempted, and a copy of the petition with other witness statements), then you can potentially defend, you could ring the solicitors, but you will fall directly in line with their demands and may make you sign a Tomlin Order.....you need to get any defence you do in to the courts at least 5 days before the hearing with one copy of your defence to the court and another to the opposing solicitor.

[alf2009]

Thank you for repies

 

I got copies from the court and went to the old house to pick up any mail.

 

The court file was slim and I was told I was given a copy of everything.

The statutory notice was served by subsitution May in so much a statement reads that someone attended the house and left a letter not including the legal notice. I was living at the address then and saw no envelope on the mat to that effect.

 

The Bankruptcy order is dated beginning November with an attachment stating substituted demand is acceptable. There is nothing for me to fill in or reply, but im concerned now because there are less than the 7 days left to reply.

 

Can I ask for it to be postponed, or should I call their solicitor and negotiate something/anyrhing, or invole a solicitor etc? I cannot afford to busk it without knowing what I'm doing.

[42man]

45.113 Presentation of the petition

When filing the petition, the petitioner must file the original and 2 copies, (one for service on the debtor, one to be exhibited to the affidavit of verification and an additional one, if appropriate, for the supervisor of any individual voluntary arrangement in force) and the original must be verified by an affidavit. The affidavit shall be made by the petitioner or some other authorised person with the necessary knowledge of the matters referred to in the petition. The petition is attached to the affidavit and the affidavit is prima facie evidence of the truth of the contents of the petition, which means that unless evidence is produced to the court to show otherwise, the information in the petition shall be accepted as being true. If the petition has been preceded by a statutory demand, the affidavit of service should also be filed in court with it. When the court is satisfied that the petition and other documents are in order, the petition and all copies will be sealed and two (or three if an individual voluntary arrangement is in force) copies handed back to the petitioner. The date and time of filing the petition will be endorsed on the petition and the copies, as will the venue for the hearing of the petition.

Notes: [r6.10, 6.12] [Form 6.13] [r6.11]

 

 

 

45.114 Delays in presenting thepetition

Where the petition is based on a statutory demand which was served more than 4 months before the presentation of the petition, the affidavit verifying the petition must explain the delay.

[42man]

There must be an affadavit which must state how personal service had been attempted, if there isn't then it is an abuse of process....